October 16, 2016

CKC October Layouts

The third and final challenge for October is up on the CKC blog today and, in keeping with the Halloween season in my part of the world, we're asked to dress up our page with something special that takes it from plain to fancy.

Spoiler Alert: I should add at this point that I thought about titling this post "How I Learned That Heidi Swapp Color Shine Comes Off of Hardwood Floors, Furniture and Clothing". Before I get to that part of the story though, here is my challenge layout:

I've had that quote on a Pinterest board for a while and thought it would be perfect to use with my kit. I took a photo of a book I'm reading, along with a favorite mug, a candle I happened to be burning and a small vase with the last of the zinnias from my summer garden.

I knew that I wanted to stamp the quote as my title and I was concerned about stamping it directly onto the page - I was sure that I would either get the spacing wrong or would splotch some ink in a place it shouldn't be. I decided to stamp on a piece of patterned paper similar to my background paper and then cut each word separately and then attach it to the page.

My plan was a success and I was happy with the look of the title. I then slipped lots of ephemera pieces around my photo and in a little cluster at the top center of the layout.

At this point I thought I was home free and was feeling rather pleased with myself over the stamping success. Then I remembered that I'd intended to complete the challenge and, in my opinion, the stamping really didn't constitute something all that fancy. I first thought I'd stitch a border around the page but then realized that some of the ephemera pieces were very close to the edge of the layout and I didn't want to stitch through them. So then I made the fateful decision to "just sprinkle a little bit of Heidi Swapp gold color shine" in opposite corners of the page. Famous. Last. Words.

I sprinkled a bit of the gold on the bottom and then when I went to repeat the sprinkles on the top, I knocked the bottle over. I watched in horror as the gold soaked into a big splotchy mess at the top of my layout. I honestly wasn't sure what to do first - save the layout or save the table (which was fortunately covered with an old tablecloth). In the process of cleaning up the damage, I ended up getting color shine on my hands, clothes, chair and floor. Fortunately, it easily wiped off everything. Everything but my page, that is. After I soaked up what I could from the top, I was faced with trying to recreate the accident at the bottom of the page. I used a paintbrush to add the gold but ironically I don't think it looks as good as the accidental damage at the top. Both edges are a little warped but at least I was able to salvage the page.

I think it will be a long time before I use any more mist!

I have another page to share today too. I started this one by just layering bits and pieces of paper beneath my photo and then built the rest of the page around that:

I used an Elle's Studio stamp to start each sentence of my journaling and added a few especially appropriate die-cut phrases from the Gossamer Blue package of ephemera I included in my kit. I stamped a few stars and added one die-cut feather to complete the page.

I hope that you'll try the last challenge for yourself. Don't forget to link your project on our blog here. Oh, and be careful with that color shine!

It's always my fear but so far, I've only managed to splat mist on my photos! You did a great job of covering up the fact that it wasnt intentional and the page is great. I so love that background paper - I know I had it too and it's just so appealing!